![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/LR201308.jpg)
Reasonable adjustments
A. Under Section 20 of the Equality Act 2010, your member’s employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments to any “provision, criterion or practice” that places her at a substantial disadvantage compared with non-disabled co-workers.
However, this duty is limited to adjustments that present a real prospect of her being able to remain in, or return to work. There is no general duty to make adjustments that promote recovery or rehabilitation for their own sake (Salford NHS Trust v Smith [2011] EAT/05/07/10).
The question for your member’s consultant is whether there’s good evidence that a career break or light duties have a real prospect of helping her get back to work.
Even if this is the case, the employer may still be able to show that the idea is not “reasonable” after taking into account such factors as practicality, the length of the proposed break, the light duties available, the employer’s resources and impact on the employer’s business. In general terms, a career break is probably unlikely to be regarded as a reasonable adjustment.